Vaseline On Battery Terminals: Does It Work & How to Use It

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If you think dust and corrosion do not have a big impact on your battery’s life, think again! Corrosion can significantly affect how the battery functions and how long the battery will run. The build-up and deposition of unwanted chemical substances from the electrolyte and the electrodes lead to severe battery malfunctioning. And while on the outside, things might seem to be just fine, they’re not. The good news is that many batteries feature corrosion-resistant electrodes and other building materials, so that’s one problem solved. What you should be worried about, though, is the terminals. In this article, we will discuss whether vaseline on battery terminals works and how to use it to rejuvenate your battery.

Table of Contents

1 Why Should You Worry About The Terminals?
2 Symptoms Of a Bad Battery Terminal
3 Will Vaseline Work On Battery Terminals?
4 How Does Vaseline Work On Battery Terminals?
5 The Benefits Of Using Vaseline
6 How To Use Vaseline On Battery Terminals
7 Things To Keep In Mind Before Applying Vaseline To A Battery Terminal
8 FAQs
9 The Bottom Line

Why Should You Worry About The Terminals?

Because the electrodes of the battery are inside the battery itself and covered with a generous amount of electrolyte all around, and mainly because they are free from contact with the air and oxygen. So there’s very little chance of them corroding due to air acting as a catalyst.

On the other hand, the positive and negative terminals of the battery are exposed to oxygen and moisture in the air. The moisture creates a favorable medium for the oxygen to dissolve over the surface of the terminals. Once dissolved, it can act as a catalyst to begin and continue the process of corrosion. This can lead to some pretty undesirable results.

Symptoms Of a Bad Battery Terminal

The primary symptom is the poor flow of electricity, but you should be aware that almost every terminal goes bad once every 3–4 years. Hence, checking the current flow through an ammeter or a voltmeter should give you a pretty solid idea of how your terminals perform.

If the ammeter or voltmeter reading is less than what it should be, it can be a symptom of bad battery terminals.

Look for corrosion (blue or white build-up on the terminals) for the visual symptoms. Even the smallest amounts will be enough to convince you that your battery terminals need cleaning. If you can’t see the corrosion but still think it’s there, put an acid indicator on the battery terminals and look for red discoloration.

Will Vaseline Work On Battery Terminals?

While there aren’t as many great and technical solutions to keep your batteries functioning at their full potential by making sure the terminals don’t get deposited with dirt or corrode, there is one nifty little hack that people use a lot: using Vaseline on battery terminals.

So the simple answer is: Yes, Vaseline does work on battery terminals. Sure, you can get an Industrial-grade dielectric silicone paste professional guys use in the garages, but it’s not worth the investment since all you need to do is clean your batteries once every five years or so. And by the time your batteries need cleaning again, the paste would’ve expired already.

That is why we always prefer Vaseline or some other petroleum jelly since it does the job equally well.

How Does Vaseline Work On Battery Terminals?

To understand this, you need to know how corrosion works. So we’ll try to make it as short as possible:

The moisture in the air creates a favorable medium on the surface of the battery terminals for the oxygen in the air to dissolve into. Once the oxygen is dissolved, it speeds up the chemical reaction that turns the metals in the battery terminals into their less pure forms. This causes solid particles to form, which we call corrosion.

Vaseline essentially creates a new layer between the battery terminals and the environment and allows them not to get corroded for a very, very long time by not allowing oxygen or moisture to come into contact with the battery terminals. So it serves as a protective covering, if you will.

The Benefits Of Using Vaseline

Simple and straightforward. It is financially amicable and readily available, plus, it’s easier to apply than the industrial-grade pastes you need to apply, keeping certain things in mind and the proper techniques.

It does the same job as a professional-grade paste to create a protective layer between the battery terminals and the environment.

That is why we prefer vaseline over store-bought pastes since we don’t want to spend a lot of cash but still want to get the job well done.

Now the question is, how to use vaseline properly? And the answer? Let’s see.

How To Use Vaseline On Battery Terminals

Before talking about the simple tutorial, let us remind you that using vaseline is a part of the whole battery terminal cleanup process. So if you think you’re doing your batteries good by applying an ample amount of vaseline on dirty or unclean battery terminals, you’re only fooling yourself.

To understand this, you need to know how corrosion works. So we’ll try to make it as short as possible:

Start with safety

As we said, using vaseline on battery terminals is a part of a whole battery terminal corrosion clean-up process. Hence, in this tutorial, we will be showing how to use vaseline properly on battery terminals.

And as with anything related to batteries, safety should come first.

Make sure you are working in a well-ventilated environment. Use protective gloves all the time, and make sure you wear some good-quality goggles. This is because the batteries have some acid as their electrolytes.

The acid is strong enough to cause second or sometimes even third-degree burns to your skin by piercing a hole in your clothes. This brings us to another safety procedure you should follow: wearing a good quality apron when working with batteries.

The goggles will protect your eyes in case the battery has some volatile compounds (which it indeed will have) in it.

Remove the terminals

The first thing you should do before removing the terminals is clean the battery as thoroughly as possible. Use a paper towel, a towel, or a cotton cloth to wipe down all the apparent dust on the surface of the battery on all the sides.

Next, remove the terminals.

Remember to remove the negative terminal first before the positive one. The negative comes off first and goes in last. That is the rule.

On removing the first terminal. Carefully wrap a towel or some good thick, insulating cloth around it to ensure it doesn’t cause a short circuit in case it comes into contact with another metal or the positive terminal. Do the same for the positive terminal as well.

Now use a battery terminal cleaner (preferably with an acid indicator) of some sort to clean the terminals of any debris chemically. We always use a spray because it’s easier to apply and is more convenient. Put the terminal on a paper towel, and spray generously with a terminal cleaner.

If your terminal cleaner comes with an acid indicator, the foam from the cleaner will turn into some shade of red around all the terminal areas where corrosion is taking place. The darker the red, the more severe the corrosion.

Keep the acid indicator on the terminal for a few minutes to allow chemical reactions that chemically clean the terminals. After you’ve let the terminals soak up some of that terminal cleaner, use a small wire brush to help clean the terminals of all the extra debris. You’ll be surprised at just how much dirt will come off of a battery terminal. Honestly, it surprises us every time!

Clean the terminal posts

This part is a little tricky. Not too much that you cannot pull it off, but just make sure you follow as closely as you can.

Then, we like to spray the terminals again and then clean them with a paper towel for good measure. Just to make sure we got all of the debris before proceeding to the next steps. Of course, if you’ve got those special wire brushes to clean the inside of the terminals, you’re free to use them as well.

First, cover all the areas of the battery, except the terminal posts, with multiple layers of paper towels. This is to ensure that the terminal cleaner you’ll be using does not seep into the battery cells, which can prove harmful to your batteries.

Apply the terminal cleaner on both posts and then wipe them down thoroughly after waiting a couple of seconds. Again, this ensures that the terminal cleaner does not get inside the battery from around the terminal posts. But, again, you wouldn’t want the cleaning solution to make its way inside the battery cells.

Wet a paper towel with distilled water and wipe down the terminals and the area between the terminals. Again, this is to make sure you get rid of or dilute any cleaning solution that could potentially harm your battery.

If you think you should just skip this step because of how fragile the process is, you’re in the wrong because this step is crucial for the next step we are about to do.

Time to get that vaseline

The normal procedure, and the one mechanics use in professional garages, is to apply a hefty amount of dielectric silicone paste around the terminal posts to prevent corrosion.

However, that stuff can be expensive and not possibly return its value to someone who does not own a garage. Furthermore, a battery can easily last as long as 3-5 years after cleanup. During that time, the chances of the dielectric silicon going bad or expiring are very high.

You’ll only use the paste once or twice and then let it expire. It’s not the most financial and practical way of doing this for us, though. So that is why we like to do this other hack instead, which is using petroleum jelly instead of a dielectric silicon paste.

It works just the same way as the paste, and we’ve seen similar results with both of them. You could use any petroleum jelly per se, but we’ve had more success using Vaseline.

Just apply an ample amount of vaseline around the post terminals, making sure to rub it in properly, and then re-attach the battery terminals to the posts, positive first and then the negative.

Here’s a video of how to apply vaseline to battery terminals:

Things To Keep In Mind Before Applying Vaseline To A Battery Terminal

Here are some of the things you should keep in mind before applying vaseline to a battery terminal:

The battery should be perfectly clean. Even a tiny amount of dust or debris can produce unpleasant terminals.
Make sure you coat the terminals evenly and generously. Even a tiny amount of air and moisture can create big problems.
Use an apron, goggles, and safety gloves the whole time you’re working with batteries.
Make sure you’re working in a well-ventilated environment.
The posts should be as clean as the battery terminals, but make sure you don’t get cleaning solutions into the battery cells.

FAQs

Is it OK to put Vaseline on battery terminals?

Yes, it is 100% okay to put vaseline on battery terminals. It is recommended to put vaseline on the battery terminals after you’re done cleaning them.

What can you put on battery terminals to prevent corrosion?

We like to put vaseline on battery terminals to prevent corrosion since putting vaseline on battery terminals to prevent corrosion works like a charm. But you can use any petroleum jelly if you do not have vaseline available.

How to clean battery terminals on a car?

Remove the battery terminals carefully. Put each one on a paper towel and apply an ample amount of terminal cleaner. Let it sit for a while, and then use a wire brush to brush off all the debris. Apply the terminal solution a second time and clean with a paper towel. Finally, apply a generous amount of vaseline (don’t be shy), and you’re all set for another four years.

How to clean battery terminals without baking soda?

While cleaning battery terminals with baking soda is an excellent idea, you can clean battery terminals without baking soda by using a terminal cleaner from the store. The best thing about it is that they come with an acid indicator which helps you determine the extent of corrosion on the terminals.

Does vaseline prevent corrosion?

Yes, vaseline prevents corrosion by acting as a protective medium on the surface of the battery terminal from environmental moisture and oxygen.

The Bottom Line

And with that, you are done cleaning your battery terminals for the next five years. The process doesn’t take up a lot of time, and using vaseline on battery terminals does take things to a whole new level.

James Owen

James is an engineer and a professional blogger. He has gained extensive experience over the years, handling all types of power projects. He loves to share his experiences with all things related to batteries, generators, and other power-related topics.